


Ghost of a Chance

by Tsume_Yuki



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, ghost Itachi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 07:10:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19807267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsume_Yuki/pseuds/Tsume_Yuki
Summary: Naruto's been able to see ghosts since the end of the war. Or more accurately, just the one ghost. Uchiha Itachi's shade just won't leave her alone. And worse, he's starting to grow on her.





	1. Prologue

It happens the second she steps back inside the newly rebuilt walls of Konoha. She's never had a problem like it before and, as such, she didn't notice it right away. Too high on the victory of the war, too pleased so many people managed to survive (not Obito, not Neji, not her own arm) to really take note of that one stark difference. And, dear Sage, is it a stark difference. Had she been paying attention as any ninja worth their salt does, she might have noticed right away. Might have spotted the extra face in the crowd, the extra body existing in her village. Had it not been the end of everything and the beginning of forever, Naruto's sure she'd had noticed.

But no. Instead, it isn't until the next day, when Sasuke has darkened her hospital room with his presence, that Naruto recognises the very, very obvious dilemma that sits within the palm of her hands. And that is putting it politely.

Lying in the hospital with a stump for an arm, a perfect mirror to Sasuke (if he were blonde and, you know, female), Naruto doesn't even bother looking up. Instead, she cheerfully heralds him into her current room, adjusting the blanket that sprawl across her legs.

Sakura's off with Shizune, studying the substance that once made up the Zetsu clones in hopes of producing a prosthetic arm for her. Then, if Naruto's adaptive body took to it, they could go about creating more for all the ninja that'd suffered in the war. She's happy to be a science experiment if it has the potential to help people (and gets her a new arm). Even if it doesn't work, she won't let a lack of an arm stop her from becoming Hokage, for continuing to protect the tentative peace the world currently resides in. Haku'd been able to use hand-seals with only one hand, right? Then she must be able to do the same thing with practice! Naruto's a lot of things, but someone defeated by impossible odds is not one of them.

Hopefully, Sakura-chan will manage it though. If only because it'd been her right arm Naruto'd blown off. She kinda needed that one to start signing documents when she becomes Hokage. That or she'll have to begin practicing with her left hand again...

Staring down at the limb in question, Naruto chews on her lip, eyebrows puckered.

Sasuke's irritated huff has her looking up again, struck by the sudden memory that her bastard of a best friend could write with both hands. Maybe he has some tips!

Then her brain actually registers what her eyes are seeing.

The scream that escapes her lips is, Naruto will admit, a little embarrassing. With how Sasuke clamps his remaining hand down over one ear and scowls, it's probably a bit worse than she thinks.

Maybe she's cracked. Maybe it a panic attack that's only hitting now, now that she's stepped off the battlefield and into what can only be 'civilian life in comparison.

The medics rush into the room, yelling and arguing and ushering Sasuke out. One theorises that it's trauma, that she shouldn't have seen Sasuke so soon after their fight to the death. The one that never actually resulted in any knows otherwise.

She doesn't have a problem with Sasuke, doesn't have a problem with the ninja she's lost an arm to. She faced down Nagato after he had killed Kakashi-sensei and she'd still managed to accept him. No, Sasuke isn't the problem, not at all.

The undead shade of his elder brother floating next to him?

Yeah, that's what she has a problem with.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Naruto has a meltdown, gets her grip again, then makes a plan.

She flees from the hospital the second she can. Which, considering Tsunade’s busy at the Hokage Tower and not present to man her hospital (prison) against escapees, is rather soon. Perhaps she should feel a little bad, her actions will undoubtedly pull Tsunade free form the tower to chase her down. Right now, Naruto doesn’t care in the slightest.

Blonde pigtails snap about as the air races through them and Naruto curses her lack of balance, losing the weight of an arm on your right side appears to do that for you. Once again, she curses her current lack of fingers, unable to so much as create a shadow clone to aid her escape.

Her mind is whirling. It was all supposed to be over now; it was supposed to go back to normal. No more wars, no more Uchihas popping up out of the woodwork, certainly no more dead people. And yet, she already has two of the three happening right here.

Naruto ducks into her new apartment through the open window, slamming it shut and making a beeline for the bed.

Once there, she burrows beneath the thick covers, pressing her face into the pillow and sucking in deep breaths, each one whistling through her teeth. One hand clenches at the bed sheet beneath and hot tears gather in the corner of her eyes at the all-encompassing loss that is her missing right hand, how she can’t clutch at the sheets with more fingers because those fingers are no more.

The stump has healed over nicely, it isn’t as tender as it'd been when the flesh had been freshly healed. But it’s still the most delicate part of her body, the one that throbbed with pain if she put too much pressure on it, if she caught it at the wrong angle. Naruto hates it.

Screaming, the pillow muffles the sound and Naruto whimpers beneath her breath once again. She needs to figure out what’s going on, needs to figure out what had just happened. But to do that, first she needs to calm down.

It takes five minutes of meditation, of calm and steady breathing, before Naruto feels even remotely ready to start tackling the problem at hand. With Kurama sleeping right now, attempting to recover his chakra, that leaves her on her own with figuring this thing out.

Standing up, the blonde makes her way over to her desk, pulling out a piece of paper and picking up a pencil as she goes. It feels decidedly odd to be holding a pencil in her left hand, twirling it back and forth between her fingers. Sure, the academy train them to be able to write with both their hands, but it has been a while since Naruto had last exercised that skill.

With a sigh, the blonde drops down into a seat, drumming her fingers against her lower lip as she thinks.

She needs to tackle this problem like Sakura-chan would. The Kakashi-sensei method would be preferable, but Naruto’s not that smart. She’s probably the only one on Team Seven who can’t recreate their sensei’s usual analyse of the situation but that’s not something that is gonna change any time soon. She just has to crack on, needs to take stock of what has happened so far, what information she already has.

First thing first, Uchiha Itachi is currently in the village. He’d been stood beside Sasuke but no one else had been able to see him. She likes to think there would have been a stronger reaction had anyone else spotted the Uchiha. Especially since no one but herself, Kakashi and Sasuke knew the truth at the moment. For the moment, that is. One of Sasuke’s demands had been a declaration of Itachi’s innocence, for the truth to come out so the village could know what a good protector it had lost in the run up to the Fourth war. Naruto, of course, had absolutely no problem with that. No, what she does have a problem with is the fact Itachi is dead and yet, somehow, still around.

He’d been stood by Sasuke’s side, a sad smile on his face as he watched his younger brother in that short glimpse that Naruto had gotten of him. She knows for certain Uchiha Itachi is dead. Very dead. Sasuke has the man’s eyes in his skull for god’s sake, he couldn’t’ be anything other than dead.

And yet, he’s still been stood there, neither alive nor dead. He hadn’t been in the same state as he had been in the war, resurrected with the sclera of his eyes black. There’s been no cracks painted across his skin, no deathly pallor to it. All the same, he’d not been alive. He’d been transparent. Like a ghost.

Naruto squirms in discomfort.

She really, really doesn’t like that idea. Fuck ghosts. Ghosts are not supposed to exist. They’re not allowed to. Does that damn Uchiha not understand that his ghostly presence wasn’t allowed in her ghost free zone?

And… why was it only Itachi?

Where are all the others, all the other souls of the dead who’d died in the war, all those that, like Itachi, had been brought back to fight?

Naruto peels her head out of her hand, blowing her cheek up and face scrunching at the taunt pull of her skin where the pencil has left an imprint. She squints at the world around her suspiciously. But no, there are no other ghosts. So, why is it only Uchiha Itachi she can see?

And why is it only she could see him? Not even Sasuke (Sasuke of the funky eyes) who would have made more sense with his Rinnegan appeared to be able to see his brother. That would have been a much more logical conclusion. Let the bastard see ghosts, not her.

Sighing harshly, Naruto reaches up to grip at her ponytails (a nervous habit formed years ago, way back in childhood), only to let out a desperate cry when she feels no pressure on her right ponytail. Because the hand is still gone.

Sakura and Tsunade need to hurry up with that prosthetic, she doesn’t know how much more of this she can take, reaching for something and not being able to pick it up with her first choice of limb. Sometimes she can still feel the fingers, phantom digits that twitch to her desire, that trick her into believing her arm is still there.

Pushing herself away from the table, Naruto stares down at the small nine-tailed fox she’d been absentmindedly doodling onto the paper in front of her, a bittersweet smile sweeping across her face. She can’t wait until Kurama wakes up. The fox’ll know what is going on, this is like his area of expertise or something. The strange and unnatural. And what’s more unnatural than a ghost? Nothing as far as Naruto is concerned.

Plucking up a plain orange sundress and a fresh pair of undergarments, Naruto disappears into her bathroom, ready for a shower to work the kinks out of her back. The hospital beds are, in no way, shape or form, comfortable.

Head under the spray of the shower, Naruto watches the dark blonde strands gather, fanning about to form a curtain before her breasts, water dripping from their ends.

For years she'd kept her hair short, to keep the villagers from grabbing it, to keep the enemy from grabbing it. But then, then Jiraiya had come along, come along and told her all about her mother, who had worn her brilliant red hair long, as long as her calves.

And so, Naruto had gained a new goal. To grow her hair out, to let it grow as far as she could deal with. It now comes to rest midway down her back after four solid years of growing and doesn’t plan to stop there. She wants it to go at least to midthigh, as homage to her mother, in the same way her orange and black flame cloak is a nod to her father.

Even if she hadn't known it when the toads had passed on Jiraiya's last gift.

Flicking the long strands back over her shoulder, Naruto snatches up the shampoo bottle, scowling when she realises she has to squirt the substance directly onto her head. Sure, she'd been trained to use her left hand, but that was with the impression she'd be on infiltration, posing as someone who preferred to use their left hand over their right. She is so not trained to handle a missing limb.

There’s so much more she has to think over now, and it’s not pleasant.

Rinsing the suds from her hair, Naruto plays with the idea of leaving the shower right away, but knows that the second Sakura or Ino or even Tenten see her, they'd be furious about her lack of conditioner usage.

As a fresh genin, Naruto hadn't bothered too much about her boy short hair, washing it thoroughly with soap every few days and leaving it at that.

Unfortunately, when she’d grown it out long, she’d found out that apparently more length meant she had to take better care of it, according to her fellow females. Even Hinata had agreed, and the Hyūga were unofficially the best at hair care in all of Konoha.

With a sigh, the blonde quickly returns the shampoo bottle to the shower basin, plucking up the conditioner.

The things she goes through so her friends won't yell at her.

Water droplets still dripping from her hair, Naruto scoffs as she walks out of the bathroom, swearing under her breath as she does so. Putting up pigtails is so much harder with only one hand. No, wait, it’s impossible.

Snarling, the blonde throws the bobble to the floor, tears of shame burning in the corner of her eyes. What if Sakura never figures out the prosthetic? Would she be stuck like this forever, not even able to tie her own hair up?

Chomping down on her lip in order to stop the tears, Naruto turns her gaze to the kitchenette of her room, and then stops cold. There’s someone in her apartment, someone who most certainly should not be there.

Uchiha Itachi glances back at her, his expression almost nervous and that spoke volumes on his usually emotionless face. Naruto can feel her ribs expanding outwards as she draws in a sharp, shocked breath, heart beating horrendously fast in her chest.

"My apologises Naruto-chan, I did not wish to invite myself in, but given the circumstances…" Itachi trails off, evidently taking in her rapidly beating heart, the way her one hand is clenched up in panic.

Slowly his hands rise, placing them on either side of his head. A surrender position. Not hands up and free like the civilian police use, seeing as a skill ninja would be able to fly through handseals before another could blink. With the fingers curled up and around the skull, it'd take a second long for hand seals to be formed, a second she could use to her advantage.

Still, Naruto's breath’s caught in her throat, and she hacks out a cough, trying to voice her thoughts.

"A-are you a ghost?"

The Uchiha stares back at her for a second, then his eyes -dark eyes, not the Sharingan- turn to gaze upon his obliquely transparent hands.

"I believe so. Though I have met no other like me, nor has anyone been able to see me. All except for you."

There’s a lull in the conversation as Naruto digests what she's been told. So, she'd been thinking the right thing earlier today then? He really is the only ghost around? And, and she’s the only one that can see him?

Stumbling over to the kettle, Naruto struggles for a few minutes to fill it up with water, to open her cup ramen.

Eventually though she makes it to the table with her steaming snack, sitting herself down, kicking out the chair opposite her as she does so. Itachi appears hesitant to move but, at her jerky gesture, carefully takes a seat. Naruto tries and fails not to grimace when his hand passes through the table. They sit quiet for a moment, Naruto clicking her chopsticks together and then repeating the action as her mind whirls, trying to find something to say.

For a heartbeat, she thinks that Itachi’s going to fill the silence as he leans back slightly, hopefully cautious of going too far and phasing right through the chair.

Naruto shudders at the thought.

"Thank you, Naruto-chan. For bringing Sasuke home."

Warmth that has nothing to do with her cup ramen hit her stomach and Naruto looks away, feeling the heat rise on her cheeks.

"I just gave the bastard a little push."

Itachi's soft smile dims slightly, looking quite blatantly at her upper right arm, which isn’t attached to a whole lot else.

"No, you did not. Thank you, for taking your promise so seriously."

Rubbing sheepishly at the back of her neck, Naruto shuffles about on her seat, watching Itachi attempt to rest his elbow on the table, only to pass right through it. From the man's pinched expression, this has happened a few times already. She feels pretty damn sick at the thought of it.

"Wh-why are you a ghost?"

She really, really does not want to end up a ghost herself. When she goes, she’s going to the same place as her parents. But not before she's lived a good long life, until she'd done right by Kurama, by the Leaf Village and by all her friends.

"I believe it has something to do with the circumstances of Edo Tensei. Due to the influence of Shisui's eye, the implanted will, I have concluded that my soul has been cut off from the Pure World, so to speak. When Kabuto was forced to release the jutsu, it only released the hold that kept my soul tied to the sacrificed body." 

"So you're stuck here?" Naruto sums up, mouth having popped open in horror at the thought. The Pure World’s supposed to be the end, the place after death. Her parents are there, and she doesn’t doubt that Itachi's are. To be cut off from family, and for his only family to not know he’s here-

"Wait! I've gotta tell Sasuke you're here!" Naruto shoots to her feet, squeaking when her ramen almost topples free of its confines. Almost, because she’s Uzumaki Naruto and she’ll never spill a cup of ramen for as long as she lives.

Itachi draws her eye with his movement, standing back and away from the table now as he shakes his head. "If Sasuke were to know I was here, he would not live his own life. He would attempt to live for me, from a misplaced sense of guilt. Please do not inform him."

The blonde's brows pucker, a frown forming across her lips as she slowly sits back down.

"Think about this objectively, Naruto-chan. Were Sasuke suddenly able to speak to your mother, would you be able to go on, knowing he could relay any message she had to you, would you be able to go about your day, knowing it was Sasuke who could interact with her, not you?"

Naruto opens her mouth to argue, but closes it after a second’s pause. Itachi’s right. No, it wouldn’t fair on all three of them, not at all. Sasuke’s just starting to build his life up again, she can’t put this on him, not right now. Not while the both of them are still recovering from the loss of their arms. Not when Sasuke is slowly starting to accept a future in Konoha, a future with his teammates and the others of the Rookie Eleven.

Drumming her chopsticks upon the rim of her now empty ramen cup, Naruto glances across at the spectre of the man now standing opposite her. To know that he'd sacrificed so much to keep the peace of the Leaf Village, and is suffering for that, even now… She doesn’t like it. Why do they all get to live happily, when Itachi can’t even have his peace in death? It isn’t right and it certainly isn’t fair.

Inhaling a large gulp of air and aggressively cursing her empty of all other ramen cupboards, the Naruto’s brow creases as she thinks, looking over at Itachi once again.

The dark-haired male is politely looking away from her, staring out the window and watching over the village the softest of smiles on his face. He really does love this place.

Naruto's heart leaps up into her throat, hardening her resolve.

It’s decided then, she thinks. While she’s waiting for Kurama to wake up, while she’s waiting for the world to recover from war, she’ll help Itachi get his peace. She’ll help him move onto the Pure World as he so clearly wants to, so he can get that peace he’s fought so hard to give to all those that still live. It makes perfect sense; ninja have invented ways to summon souls back from the Pure World, surely sending one back isn’t that difficult?

And if it is, well, she’s not Konoha’s most unpredictable ninja for nothing! That much she knows is the truth. But hell, she’s going to have to do some research. Lots of research. She needs clones, which means…

“I need to see a woman about an arm,” Naruto declares, getting to her feet once again and throwing her empty ramen cup in the bin.

Dark eyes track her movement across the flat, watching as she puts her sandals on. Naruto’s sure he doesn’t miss the way the muscles of her right shoulder, her right upper-arm twitch, wanting to help the left but no longer capable of it. Twisting this way and that to make sure her footgear is on correctly, Naruto turns to look at her unexpected guest, frowning at the blonde hair that attempts to get in the way. Man, how had her mum dealt with it this long?

“Are you coming with?”

Itachi tilts his head to a side, considering. His eyes, still that dark shade of grey, continue to weigh her up before he gives the shallowest of nods.

“You are the only one I can interact with, Naruto-chan.”

“But… don’t you wanna watch over the bastard?” That makes no sense in her mind. Itachi had done everything for Sasuke, had given up everything for his little brother. Naruto’s not jealous, she’s not. She may or may not be a little in awe, however.

“Sasuke is in a better place than he has been for years. I need not observe his every movement.”

“Yeah, right. That makes sense, I guess.” Scratching at her cheek, Naruto spins on her heels, playing with the idea of leaving via window but deciding it’s perhaps not the best of ideas. Unbalanced by a missing arm, it’d be just her luck to misjudge a jump and slam into something. Probably in front of Kiba too, and the fucker’d never stop laughing at her for it. So, yeah, she’ll pass on future humiliation, thank you. Soon enough she’ll have a second arm again. Zetsu’s clone cells ahd been good enough to give Obito use of his body again, surely that means Tsunade, the greatest medic in the elemental nations, could turn it all into something that she can use?

Naruto crosses her fingers and hopes reverently that such a thing is true. She really, really doesn’t like the idea of only having one arm forever.

"Please refrain from informing anyone of my presence, Naruto-chan."

Glancing back at the Uchiha as she locks the door up, Naruto gave a small smile, determination burning even stronger in her stomach.

She’ll see him free of this latest torture, that she promises.

"Will do, Itachi."

* * *

Being back in the Leaf Village is both his antidote and his poison.

It’s incredible, to walk through the streets again. But to not truly be there, to not enjoy the peace they are experiencing, to be unable to interact with his brother who is steady for the first time in years…

It hurts.

These streets are not familiar to him, all the houses new, all the land laid flat in the aftermath of an attack. There’s pleasure at seeing the village at the calmest it has ever been, but pain, over not being able to fully appreciate it.

He is neither dead nor alive.

It's been that way since his temporary body had flaked away, since his spirit had remained alongside Sasuke as the body dropped to the floor.

Unseen, unheard.

Neither present or absent.

He had taken to following Sasuke, as no other option had presented itself during that time he'd stood by a frozen Kabuto's side, unable to do anything. He'd made his way to the Leaf, had shed tears over his sibling's missing arm. Even more so when he noticed the matching injury that Naruto sports.

But the girl has been true to her word, has brought Sasuke back to the village. Has supported him and built him back up, even if his brother is still very obviously fragile. He should really have a handle with care sticker labelling him right now.

Only Naruto seems capable of bringing out the best in him, though Itachi really isn’t that surprised. From what he's heard, what he's seen, Naruto has brought out the best in everyone. It is why there is now peace. Tentative, infant peace, but peace all the same.

Only Sasuke… Sasuke is the only one that Itachi would prefer to see him. Naruto, there is no better person than Naruto, it is only Itachi's love for his little brother that has him believing otherwise.

When he had followed Sasuke to the girl's hospital room, he'd instantly clocked on to her the moment those blue eyes landed on his form. She had seen him. Looking right at him, at this body that was both here and not. And she had panicked.

Itachi had been quick to work out it was a childish fear of ghosts, but since Edo Tensei had been used so liberally in the war, he doesn’t doubt that more than one ninja has walked away with a fear of the undead. He'd given her space, meanwhile mulling over what to say to the girl.

What else can he say? Thank you had obviously been the first thing on his list. She'd stopped the war, she'd saved lives, the village. She'd saved Sasuke. Itachi cannot even begin to describe the gratitude that wells within him because of that.

To ask her not to tell his little brother had hurt. But he knows Sasuke wouldn't be able to leave it alone. He would badger Naruto to be their middle man, to stand between their conversations. And the blonde would be too kind, too polite to say no. He doesn’t want that for the whiskered teen; she's already done more than enough for them. For all of them. He refuses to add more to her workload.

Instead, he's began to consider at what he is able to do in this form.

The answer is obvious. He wants to help his village, even if it is from the shadows, from this in-between world he is now stuck in. And as a ghost, no one can stop him from snooping now. Naruto could relay the information.

He can still keep the village safe.

The new purpose burning bright inside of him, the idea taking root almost instantly. Yes, it sounds good. If he isn’t allowed to move on, if he has to repent for his sins, then he will do it the only way he knows how.

By protecting that which he holds dear.

Phasing through another person the street, has Itachi grimacing. Just because he can pass through people, it doesn’t mean his sense of touch has disappeared. He just can’t actively move things, can’t make an impression upon anything.

He can still feel the slick muscle of the human body, the sharp corners of a wooden table.

The silken blonde strands of Naruto's hair as she runs ahead of him, greeting every person that takes the time to acknowledge her. And there are quite a few.

It’s obvious why Naruto’s taking this whole ghost business so well. She’s at the end of her tether, struggling to handle the fact she only has one arm now. With a ghost haunting the village, well, that’s something she’s clearly content on ignoring for the moment.

He's seen the way her remaining upper arm had twitched, had watched as it tried to aid its match, but had been unable to.

Something heavy sits in his stomach, well aware that it is because of Sasuke's ideals, ideals that were unfortunately twisted… this was the cause of Naruto's injury. Of his little brother's injury.

He'd seen his younger sibling cry when he thought there'd been no one in his hospital room. Itachi had forced himself to stand vigil by his brother's bedside, aware that had he made a better choice, had he handled the situation with Sasuke better, then maybe his baby brother wouldn't be missing a limb right now.

That maybe Naruto wouldn't be missing one either.

Had he not tried to do everything on his own, had he accepted help instead of going unaccompanied, had he just trusted in others as much as he had his own abilities… Things might have turned out for the better.

"Itachi?"

Snapping his gaze up to look at the whiskered blonde that's stopped just outside of the Hokage's office, the Uchiha forces his expression to soften, to halt reflecting his bitter thoughts.

Naruto stares back at him for a second, blue eyes dripping with curious suspicion, but nevertheless she accepts the fact he isn’t going to say anything.

Instead, she turns on her heels, pushing open the door to the Hokage's office and striding into the whirlwind of chaos as if it isn’t there.

Itachi follows in a somewhat more cautious manner, each and every ninja passing him by without so much of a first glance, never mind a second. He's grown use to it, these past three days, but it still catches him off guard whenever he’s not fully focused, can still sting. It has been a long, long time since people had ignored him in such a manner, a long time since no one had been watching.

He takes note of Naruto's expression, shocked and quite clearly confused. She'd obviously been hoping she isn’t the only one who can see him. Itachi’s unsure why it’s only her, he still doesn’t have an answer for that, no matter how much he has spent that past hour pondering over it.

"Baa-chan! Is my new arm done yet?"

Itachi smiles, unable to help himself. He'd heard the rumours of course, but this is the first time that he's actually been able to witness Naruto address the Hokage as something so familiar as 'Baa-chan'.

The girl shoots him a funny look, but continues onwards regardless.

"I wanna go on an adventure!"

The busty blonde Hokage, who’d previously been snapping out orders before Naruto's exuberant entrance, pauses, sharp honey eyes assessing every inch of her fellow blonde.

"Excuse me?"

"I've got some questions that I want answers to. I wanna go on a journey of self-discovery. Like Pervy Sage did. But I need an arm for that." As if to emphasise her point, Naruto waves her stump up and down, reminding Itachi rather forlornly of a chicken.

It’s not the kind of action one would associate with the strongest ninja in the world. And she is, his brother a close second. It’s Naruto's will, her charisma, that won her that title. She's never lost when it really counted. The fact the Leaf Village still stands makes that abundantly clear.

"Konoha is recovering from war, the citizens are insecure and this peace thing is as fragile as the Hyūga clans’ hair-care ego, and you want to just leave?"

Naruto splutters, eyes darting around the room in an effort to keep from looking at him. Itachi’s surprised to find out there’s a small does of amusement bubbling away in his stomach. He has no idea what Naruto had been expecting, but this kind of reaction clearly isn’t it.

"Please Baa-chan? I'll stop by all the villages and make sure everything's running right, and if you fix me up with a new arm I'll be able to defend myself just fine! You can call it a diploc- diplowam-"

"Diplomatic?" Itachi offers quietly, watching as Naruto straightens, flipping him a thumbs up behind her back with her one good arm and thus, out of view from Tsunade.

"A diplomatic mission!"

The Hokage heaves a sigh, nursing her temples with one hand, the other twitching for something. Itachi's sharp gaze picks up on the shape her fingers attempted to form, not the kind of grip required for a kunai, but something leaning more towards, a bottle?

Well, if his information is correct, then Tsunade’s still as notorious a drunk as she'd been before taking up the hat. Clearly some things will never change.

"So you'll let me?"

"Fine brat! Stop by in morning and we'll talk it over. Now I've gotta go look at those blasted cells again."

Naruto whoops in victory, spinning on the spot and shooting out towards the door. Itachi doesn’t miss the way she reaches out to snatch up his wrist, but remembers at the last second she'll just pass right through him.

' _Well,_ ' he muses, following after the young woman that’s making a beeline to the new market place, ' _at least this in-between won't be terribly boring_ '.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Naruto once again totals four limbs, and Itachi gets suspicious on Naruto's sudden desire to see more of the world.

Naruto wakes up in the morning to the low light of the sun and the low simmer of excitement in her gut. Today, today she would finally be getting her arm back. Hopefully. Fingers crossed. Left-hand fingers because she still doesn’t have any right ones. But that won’t be an issue after today. Maybe. If all goes well.

Looking down at the little stump that’s made her life miserable ever since she left the battlefield, the blonde allows herself a small, proud smile, wiggling free of the blankets the rest of her (whole and not missing) limbs are tangled up in. She flails a bit, swears a lot when she attempts to steady her body with a hand that isn’t there and winds up hitting the floor instead. Blood instantly bursts from her nose at the sudden impact and it has her whimpering under her breath, pressing her stupid left hand to her face in an attempt to stem the bleeding. Kurama’s healing fact kicks in soon enough, but that doesn’t do anything about the blood now marring her top, sheets and floor.

Slowly, Naruto rights herself, curling inwards with her one hand still pressing to her face, even though she can feel the blood flow has stopped. It’s clotting already and, as long as she doesn’t stick her finger up her nose to dislodge it, she’ll be good as new soon enough. She’s had plenty of nosebleeds in the past, but they’ve never lasted more than a few seconds. Back in the Chunin Exam, when she’d kicked Kiba in the face, it’d taken over ten minutes for his nose to stop gushing the red stuff. Now, his top had been ruined that day, stained beyond repair. If she’s quick, Naruto’ll be able to salvage this one. Hastily stripping herself of the shirt, Naruto pads over to the sink, dropping the fabric into the basin after she’d plugged in and then setting the tap to hot. As the water fills up, she gathers the sheet too, eyeing the splattering that’s made it onto her nice, Yamato-created floorboards. He’ll probably get pissy at her if she asks for new ones; she’s gonna have to actually clean it. Knocking the tap off, she leaves the fabrics to soak, snatching up a sponge to scrub the red from the floor before it begins to dry. It’s a quick job but, by god, does Naruto hate cleaning.

Standing in the middle of her apartment, Naruto twists back and forth, consider what she wants to wear today. Going in her ninja-gear is a plain no; what she has left of pre-war times will just look awkward, given she’s lacking an arm, but she doesn’t want to turn up in a sundress either. There’s a chance blood’ll end up on the dress. Yes, she’s a ninja and isn’t bothered by the red stuff, but it’s a bitch to get out of fabric once it’s in. And her dresses are all nice ones.

As Pein's invasion had reduced Konoha -and thus, her previous apartment and all within- to a dust bowl, she'd not had anything other than the clothes on her back after coming out of that fight.

Ever since, she's been busy, preparing for war, fighting in a war, supporting the survivors of a war. It’d been Sakura who'd gone out and bought her clothes, who'd found the time to make sure Naruto would have a life to come back to after war. It made her feel warm inside.

While the two of them had gotten off to a rocky start, what with her younger self not understanding that perhaps not all girls were interested in both girls and guys as she was, Sakura’s now her best friend. The pink haired girl had gone out of her way to understand her, to really get to know her. Especially after the training trip with Jiraiya.

Scratching at her bare breast, the blonde snatches up the only casual shirt she owns, a burnt orange top that hangs loose once it's passed over her breasts, only just covering her stomach with its short length. It’s her most comfortable shirt outside of her ninja gear, and coupled with the ripped denim shorts Tenten-chan had left the night she'd stayed over during her house-warming party two night ago, Naruto feels it’s her best choice of outfit when she considers what she'd be doing today.

For a moment, she wonders what Itachi’s up to. Then she looks down at her still very bare chest and flushes slightly. At least he’d not been around when she’d made a complete idiot of herself while getting out of bed. Some ninja she was. What an embarrassment.

Saviour of the five nations (and more), defeated by a particularly clingy blanket and higher than the norm bed.

Yeah, when she compares that to Uchiha Itachi who’d been an ANBU Captain at thirteen, she ends up looking particularly graceless. Best not to have another episode like that when he’s here to play witness to it.

Letting out a long sigh, Naruto brushes her hair back from her face, tracing the whisker like birthmarks that rest upon her cheek before she turns on heel, heading for the bathroom.

When she done, all change and even wearing a bra (and hadn’t that been hell to get on?), Naruto walks out the bathroom to come face to face with her ghostly visitor. The former S-ranked ninja is slouched across her couch, staring up at the ceiling with dead black eyes. Naruto freezes in place, halfway between tugging her shirt down over her stomach, heart beating thunderously in her chest.

Has, has Itachi died in her apartment? Like, died-died?! His ghostly corpse isn’t going to be sticking around, is it? Because she can’t touch it, can’t move it; dear god, she’ll have move out of an apartment she’s just broke in. Everyone will kill her if they have to celebrate another move-in so soon.

His head angles slightly at the sound of her approach and Naruto deflates in relief, laughing nervously. She says nothing, pushing down the embarrassment and trying to kill the burning red of her cheeks. She can’t eat (“No food before an operation, Naruto!”), but she’s still got time to kill before she’s due at the hospital.

“My apologies for interrupting your morning routine, Naruto-chan, but I'm afraid this couldn't wait.”

Peeling the towel from her shoulders, Naruto throws it back into the bathroom, shaking her head and sending water droplets rocketing from the ends of her hair.

Itachi's low, smooth voice had held a little… a little something more than it usually did. Not quite an emotion, more like the afterglow of one. One that wasn't too pleasant either. It’s not like she’s heard him speak a whole lot but, then again, Naruto is ace at reading people. It’s how she’s powered so well through opponents that, in all honestly, should’ve been able to crack her open like a walnut and scoop out her gooey insides. Do walnuts even have gooey insides? She’s probably thinking of something different. No, she should be focused here.

"What's up Itachi?"

The man in question lets out a low sigh, looking back over at her with black eyes so dead it roots Naruto to the spot for a moment.

"Sasuke has decided to go and search for his own answers. He wishes to leave the village for some time, and your sensei, as the elected Sixth Hokage, gave him official permission not twenty minutes ago. He leaves in an hour."

It’s like a straight up sucker punch to the stomach.

Sasuke, Sasuke’s leaving. Again. She's just got him back and already he’s trying to fuck off on his own, leaving her behind.

"That crazy bastard! The idiot just got back damnit!"

Naruto’s not even aware she’s heading for the door before an uncanny feeling explodes across her wrist, prompting a flinch from the blond. She looks down in time to see Itachi retracting his hand, having clearly attempted to take hold of her, stopped only by his ghostly form. Urgh, that had been an awful sensation, really, really bad. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.

They’re both quiet for a second, staring down at their respective limbs before Naruto’s brain remembers it’s supposed to do something in this situation, choosing to shake the arm back and forth. As if that’ll shake free that nasty feeling that’s still lingering. Like sticky burnt cheese. She hates it.

“Gah, don’t do that again!”

“Please, Naruto-chan, wait a moment before you go charging after my foolish little brother.”

Grumbling, Naruto wades back to the bathroom, snatches up the previously discarded towel and begins to awkwardly rub at her wrist where that awful sensation persists. Chancing a glance towards her current company, Naruto focuses on his face and not the way his feet and almost floating above her floorboards. She really, really hopes that part is her mind playing tricks on her. Itachi looks uncomfortable, though over what, she cannot begin to guess.

“Why is Kakashi letting him go?” Naruto finally murmurs, eyes downcast as she drops the towel once again. It hasn’t helped in the slightest and only frustrated her over the lack of a right arm that little bit more. She can’t wait until she’s got another one; no more of this having to clumsily juggle business.

“Sasuke feels he needs time to find himself. I do believe you asked Tsunade-sama for the same thing just yesterday.”

Scowling, Naruto gives the Uchiha a one-fingered salute moments before she bounces over to the front door, trying helplessly not to snicker at the absolutely stunned look on Itachi’s face. As if he’d been expecting her to act like a lady or something.

For the first time Naruto finds she doesn’t think of crows when she looks at him in that moment, but rather a wide eye barn owl that's just woken up for to sunlight for the first time.

She pauses by the door, reaching for the shelf that houses a particular headband. A scratched one that she’d kept on her at all times until the end of the war, which had been when she'd thrown it onto the shelf to be collected later.

"Is that-"

"Sasuke's headband," Naruto finishes, fingers till curled around the cool metal.

"I gotta make sure he's got it on him before he runs off after all, the bastard!"

Watching Sasuke walk away down the dirt path, sans one arm, Naruto tries to swallow around the lump that’s formed in her throat. Sakura’s beside her, having asked to go with the boy, but she’d been turned down.

Naruto understands the need for solitude, at least, on a rudimentary level. She'd never be able to go without talking to somebody for as long as Sasuke plans to though. Going on her adventure, going out into the world to help Itachi move on; that’s different. Because she'll never be alone, she has Kurama and the older Uchiha brother, after all. Or at least-

"You are coming with me, right?" Naruto asks, cocking her head back to look at the ghost that’s gliding along beside her. Naruto grimaces. No one should be able to move that smoothly. No one. Even if you were an ANBU Captain, it's like his feet aren’t touching the ground. Oh…. Never mind.

"For a while Naruto-chan."

Scowling to herself, the whiskered blonde skips after Sakura, watching as the pink haired girl turns around to smile. Deep purple bruising rests beneath her sharp green eyes; Sakura’s tired.

Guilt gnaws at the edges of Naruto's consciousness, but she determinedly pushes past it. Sakura knew she was at her limit, she’s a responsible shinobi, a responsible medic nin. She'll know when to stop, Naruto trusts her on that account. It's taken her a long while to accept that not everyone has the same kind of stamina as what she did. Hell, back in the academy she'd been running rings around the girls, the boys and even their teachers when it came to the stamina tests.

If there was one thing she'd been good at from the start, it was endurance. No one had been able to take that away from her, to force her to unlearn that skill.

"Are you ready for the surgery Naruto?"

Looking down at the offending stump, the blonde in question offers Sakura a teasing grin.

"This arm will match right? It's not going to be some weedy looking thing next to this arm, right?"

Flexing her remaining upper limb until it drags a smile from the medic, Naruto lets her own grin grow, bumping her hip into Sakura's and laughing when the girl returns the gesture and almost throws her completely off balance.

Eyes dancing back to look at Itachi, who’s watching with his face completely blank, Naruto feels her grin fade slightly at the sight. She can read the sorrow in his face, and for a moment, she remembers what he had told her of Uchiha Shisui. He had to miss his best friend, that much was obvious. Naruto has no idea what she'd do without Sakura.

"Now remember, we're going to give you a gown for surgery, Tsunade-sama is doing it herself. You will be put under for the duration of the operation, are you okay with that?"

Grumbling under her breath, Naruto gives a sharp, short nod, following the pinkette into the hospital. It’s one of the most furnished buildings, done out of clear necessity.

"Yeah yeah, this arm will complete me, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura's fist coming down on Naruto's head is the last thing she remembers. When Sakura had said she'd be putting her under, Naruto had rather been hoping it'd be a bit more technical than that.

Four limbs twitch when Naruto requests they do so.

Eyes popping open, the blue-eyed teen stares down at the fourth limb that is now attached to her person with something resembling awe. It’s a pasty white and will probably remain a pasty white forever more. But Naruto isn’t too bothered about her appearance. She'll wrap it up in bandages and be done with it.

Oh, she cares if she’s got a pimple on her face -ninjas did not get pimples, not super awesome ninjas like her anyway- but caring about the fact one arm’s now lighter than the other?

Never.

Running the new fingertips across the bed sheets, Naruto grins when she discovers that the sensations are exactly the same as what they were in her original hand. Tsunade has really done an excellent job with this fake limb.

Wiggling the fingers back and forth, Naruto lets out a joyous little giggle at the motion she’s now able to complete. Not even the unnaturalness of the white hand could upset her right now. This is perfect. She'd say it was well worth the wait, but Naruto hates waiting for anything in general, so that'd be a lie.

Still though, an arm. Two arms; she’s a complete human being again.

Laughing, she reaches out for the glass of water, then startles when the fake arm faults on the move, unbalancing her enough that Naruto tumbles out of bed.

It is with a grumble that the blonde pulls the rumpled hospital gown back down so that it’s covering her ass, standing up and reaching for the water with her good arm.

Okay, so she’s not quite in sync with this arm just yet. She'll figure it out as she goes.

The empty glass hits the wooden table with a crisp 'thunk' as Naruto places it back down, eyes lingering on the paperwork that rests on the bedside cabinet. Slowly, she removes that from the wooden surface, flicking through the sheets in her grasp.

One is an official looking document that states one 'Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto is currently recognised by the Fifth Hokage as a travelling nin of Konoha'. Another is her paper passport, though when this recent looking photo had been taken, she has absolutely no idea. The final paper’s a note from her much beloved 'baa-chan', informing her that she will most certainly be keeping an ear to the ground while she’s out and about, and so help her if Naruto causes any trouble.

Laughing, the whiskered teen makes her way over to the chair where her pre-operation clothes rest, stripping herself of the hospital gown as goes. She’s almost ready to travel. She’d packed the night before, and now she’ll only need to change into her ninja gear and then she'd be ready to set off out into the open world.

It’s only as she opens the window to make her exit that Naruto realises she didn’t exactly have a destination in mind. Kurama would know what to do about this, but right now he’s… sleeping.

Then again, the other Bijū are out and about; she can totally hit them out for a talk about ghosts and how to guide them on into the Pure World. The three tails had seemed the most reasonable of the lot, but she has no idea where Isobu could be right now. All the Bijū that’d been freed during the Fourth War had scattered after offering her their thanks; she doesn’t have a clue where they could be. Well, doesn’t know where any of them could be, barring one.

Shouldering her pack, Naruto looks down at the orange tracksuit top Jiraiya had given her. She’s grown now, just a few inches but it’s enough that it no longer looks oversized on her frame as it once had done. However, she can’t quite zip it all the way up, not without overstretching the material anyway.

Scowling, Naruto looks down at her breasts, breast she’d been almost sure would be non-existent back when she was a kid. She’d not really grown into her curves that much on the training trip with Jiraiya. Oh sure, so slight curving had happened, enough to make her noticeably female, but not like, _curve_ -curves. It seems however, ever since her return to the Leaf they’ve been steadily growing, sneaking up on her until bam! She has baps almost as big as Hinata’s. Almost, because Hinata’s has the best chest of their generation, hands down.

She can only hope that her own boobies will put her in with a chance of snatching Ino’s crown of second best chest.

Chuckling under her breath, Naruto cups her boobs fro a second, not quite able to keep the pleased smile off her face. Her mother had been curvy as well, so she’s pretty damn happy to see she got one of her physical features. Aside from her temper, that is.

Pulling down the black shirt she wears now that she has to keep the jacket open, Naruto adjusts the straps of her backpack before brushing her bangs back. She’s ready to go, ready to find the information she needs to help Itachi out. After his help in the war, after he’d managed to break free of Kabuto’s control, it’s only fair she does her damn best to save him too.

Strolling out of her apartment, she closes the door and locks it, bidding her room a goodbye for now.

Sakura is waiting for her when she gets to the gates, the purple smudges of her eyes larger and darker, her frown soft.

“You’re leaving too, Naruto?” The pinkette looks devastated, Ino beside her not looking that much happier either. Pushing down the wave that feels suspiciously like guilt, Naruto offers a nervous grin, rubbing sheepishly at the back of her head.

"I need to go and check on all the Bijū, make sure they're all doing okay wherever they've decided to hunker down since the war. I was gonna stop at the other villages on my way around… Do you want anything will I'm passing through?" Naruto bought almost all of her stuff for the new apartment from the new Konoha, she only had a few knickknacks that she'd gotten as mementos from little villages and towns she'd visited with Jiraiya. Stuff to keep the memories of the places she'd been. It’s a, well, habit she'd picked up over time.

Sakura blinks slowly as she thinks, but Ino’s quick to take her up on her offer.

"Oh, can you get so some of Suna's skin moisturizer? They have the best stuff in the nations but it's super expensive to import."

Nodding slowly, Naruto turns her gaze to her green-eyed best friend, absentmindedly noting that Itachi has appeared at some point throughout their conversation.

"Do you really have to go Naruto?"

"I- erm, yeah… It's important to me Sakura-chan, but I promise I'll be back soon!"

Arms wrap around her shoulders and Naruto blinks, slowly encircling Sakura's waist with her own.

"Just be careful, you big lug. Just because you beat a goddess doesn't make you unbreakable." She pokes her false arm as if to make her point and Naruto scowls, rolling her eyes.

"I'll be careful, that's the promise of a lifetime! And I'll get you a pretty dress or something from Mist. I saw you eyeing the Mizukage's outfit."

Sakura matches her scowl with one of her own, a light blush dusting her face as Naruto laughs, weaving free of the medic’s arms and waving to the duo as she bounces away down the dirt path. It isn’t until she’s out of sight that she slows, adjusting the straps of her pack and looking back over at Itachi.

"Ready to come meet some Bijū with me? I promise they're friendly!"

* * *

There is something he is missing here, that much Itachi is sure of.

Uzumaki Naruto is a lot of things, but a liar, a secret keeper, she is not. The girl is so painfully obvious when it comes to the fact she’s planning something it is almost painful to witness. She’s the type of person who wears her heart on her sleeve, showcasing what she feels on her face.

He's seen the way her features dropped slightly when her teammate had asked if she had to go. She doesn’t feel one hundred percent right about having to leave the Leaf Village to travel around and discovering answers about the world, about herself. Naruto is sure of herself, just as she is sure of the fact she could and would mould the world into something better. Something greater than it already had been.

And she makes those around her believe in her too.

Frowning, Itachi continues walking alongside the girl as she babbles on about the Bijū she'd met during the war, almost skipping along. The twin tails of her blonde hair snap about at the movement, her open jacket fluttering around slightly as she gestures wildly with her left arm to explain her tale better.

It really doesn’t fit Naruto's character to leave the Leaf Village as it is now. Konoha is still rebuilding, they’re currently post war and even if the other villages had declared a tentative peace, it’s still as fragile as a newborn infant. Tender and very easily broken.

Still, Itachi’s pleased to see that peace is indeed possible, that it wasn't a unrealistic dream, completely untouchable. This is the start of a new age, and he is honoured to have witnessed it in person… so to speak.

Looking over at Naruto upon noticing the lack of noise, Itachi raises a brow at the girl's face, which is scrunched up in consideration. He knows that they'd been on the same side during the war, and she'd accepted his alliance then, but for her to now treat him so openly when before he'd been part of the group threatening to end her life; well, she’s taking it all far better than he thought.

"Where will you be travelling to first, Naruto-chan?"

The girl blinks at him, startled blue eyes focusing on his face for a second and he doesn’t miss the slight fear that leaks into those orbs. It isn’t fear of him, per say, but more of what he is.

A ghost, unable to move on, unable to find peace in his death. Barred forever from the Pure World where his loved ones wait for him. He hopes they are waiting, he still wishes to make amends with his parents, to speak to Shisui on this new peace that's appeared within the Elemental Nations.

But it appears such a thing was not on the cards for him.

"I think I'm gonna go meet up with Bee, see how Cloud's doing, maybe talk with Gyūki while I'm there, seeing as my Bijū is sleeping on the job," Naruto frowns, poking at her own stomach, as if such a crude method would awaken the fox that resides in her.

Smiling slightly at the motion, Itachi turns his gaze to the sky, mind already whirling.

Naruto wants to talk to the Bijū about something. That much is obvious. She's unintentionally implied such a thing with her words, the unspoken confession that she needs to talk to a Bijū and that her own is inaccessible to her right now.

With the Nine Tails sleeping, this leaves her with little choice but to approach the only other remaining Jinchūriki, seeing as the only other option is to track down one of the now roaming Tailed Beasts. Chasing down one of the Bijū, who have no doubt gone into hiding for a bit to recover from the events of the Fourth Ninja War, would have taken much more effort than to go after the one that she already has a verified location on.

The only question that goes unanswered is why Naruto wants to track down a Bijū, what questions she has for them? Now that the war’s over with, now that she's had time to process all the information that's been dumped upon her thin shoulders, the blonde clearly has a few questions that only a Bijū can answer, it would seem.

The only thing is, Itachi doesn’t know what kind of questions she has to ask.

Obviously, something that only a Tailed Beast would know, otherwise she'd have gone looking for another source that wasn't so far away from Konoha.

Naruto loves the Leaf, that much is evident. She wouldn't be going so far from its boarders right now unless she feels like she has to do something, something that only she can do. Hence, something related to the Bijū. Perhaps he will be able to tease the reason out of her with a bit of conversation? Naruto, as stated earlier, is no secret keeper. She'll end up spilling her reasoning shortly.

"I have never been to Kumo."

It is a true statement. He'd come close before, but never actually been within the its walls as he had every other Hidden Village in the Elemental Nations.

Naruto pauses where she’s walking, rubbing her chin with her artificial arm before she seems to realize what the appendage is doing and forces it to retreat. Clearly, she’s still unsure of the bandages that wrap around the unnatural white skin beneath.

"I haven't been in any of the other Hidden Villages come to think of it… No, wait! I've been to Suna! But I never really got to stop and look around." Pouting, Naruto squints slightly as she looks towards the setting sun, a smile steadily spreading across her face. "Well, maybe if I don't get the answers I need here, then we can stop by others while I track down another Bijū!"

Grinning, the blonde leaps up into the trees, rocketing off and picking up speed, clearly much more motivated.

Itachi hasn’t the slightest idea what has set off this reaction.

Regardless, he's gotten a bit of an answer now. Naruto isn’t looking for answers for herself, or how on the other villages worked, or even about peace. She is looking specifically for something only a Bijū could answer. And it isn’t something she’s expecting all the Bijū to know about.

So, it’s an obscure topic then.

But what could have possibly drawn Naruto away from the village, what could she consider more important than sticking around to watch Konoha being rebuilt?

True there’s little chance of the village being attacked, because all the villages are still in the same state at this moment in time. But there’s still the slightest of chances some mercenary group may attempt to push their luck…

Grimacing over his own thoughts, Itachi accepts the fact he is indeed paranoid over things he can no longer effect. The ninja of the Leaf will be able to handle such an attack without Naruto. Hatake Kakashi remains, as does Tsunade herself, along with her apprentice.

In truth, he just didn't want to leave the village behind. He's spent so much time away from it, so much time on the run and unable to walk its welcoming streets; he’d missed it. On a similar train of thought though, he’s uneased with the idea of leaving Naruto's side too.

For the first few days as a ghost, he'd been content. Nothing hurt, illness was no longer ravaging his body because there was no body to ravage. It just was, he just was. And it'd been one of the most pleasant experiences he'd felt in the past few years. He'd come to accept he'd be unable to do anything other than watch. Until Naruto saw him, until Naruto reacted to him. Now..

He doesn’t want to go back to being unacknowledged. It is supposed to be the way of the ninja, the ideals of self-sacrifice. But this sacrifice holds no meaning, no reasoning. No one would benefit if he remains in the Leaf with no one to talk to.

On the other hand, if he remains with Naruto, he can at the very least help her out, considering she’s not… well, the sharpest kunai in the pouch.

While it’s true he’s a ninja, he also happens to be human. And he’s tired of denying that part of himself now.

He's sacrificed everything in life in order to keep his brother and his village safe. In death, he supposes he can afford himself the bubbly company of Uzumaki Naruto.

Until she requests he leave, he'll remain for now. He doesn’t wish to look back on this time hundreds of years in the future, when there will be no one to talk to his ghostly form, and regret not taking advantage of the one human he could interact with. He will aid Naruto in her mission for answers, seeing as she had accomplished the only thing he'd ever strived for. The safety of both his brother and his village.

"Sure you can keep up Itachi?"

Looking to the blonde-haired girl that’s bouncing from branch to branch, the Uchiha graces her with a small smile, floating effortlessly beside her.

"I highly doubt I will tire in this state Naruto-chan, but you are welcome to try."

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote the first two/three chapters of this years ago, decided recently to start it up again, so updating the new chapter one shortly.


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